


The Proposal

by starconvoy



Category: The Railway Series - W. Awdry, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, Thomas the Tank Engine - All Media Types
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Break Up, F/M, Family Drama, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Past Infidelity, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-06 23:30:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17354708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starconvoy/pseuds/starconvoy
Summary: Flying Scotsman (Scott) met Caerphilly Castle (Cate) in 1924 at the Empire Exhibition. They fell in love, had twins, and carried out their relationship in secret. In 1925, Scott cheated on Cate with her younger brother, Pendennis Castle (Dennis) at the next Empire Exhibition. When Cate found out...well, things didn't go as planned for Scott. humansof-york.tumblr.com





	The Proposal

Scott walked into Cate’s apartment, nervous. He could feel the small ring box pressed against his thigh in his pocket, reminding him of the reason he’d come.

_Will you marry me, Caerphilly?_

He’d thought out the whole proposal in his head. Scott knew Cate wouldn’t want him to make a big show of it with flowers and lots of witnesses; she wasn’t interested in that. However, Scott knew she had been waiting for a while and he didn’t want her to wait any longer especially now that they had the twins.

Hurricane and Typhoon were the most beautiful children ever in Scott’s eyes. He remembered the day Cate had given birth, her face glowing from the exertion, holding the two bundles in her arms. Scott thought her more beautiful than he had ever seen her and had no words to describe how he’d felt.

Now, the twins were growing fast. Hurricane was proving to be a very curious boy and Typhoon was energetic and boisterous, holding much of both Scott and Cate’s attention at times. Scott wasn’t sure what would happen to the children and how they would raise the two while also avoiding scandal, but he was sure he and Cate would figure out something.

As Scott closed the door, however, he sensed something was off. The apartment was quiet and neither Cate or the children seemed to be around.

“Cate?” Scott called, suddenly on edge.

“I’m here, Scotsman.”

Scott turned at Cate’s voice. She didn’t usually call him that unless she was angry. Scott met her eyes and saw fury blazing in them.

“Cate, love, what’s wrong?”

“Tell me about the Exhibition of 1925,” she said in an even voice, ignoring Scott’s question.

“The Exhibition? What about it?” Scott said, growing even more confused and nervous.

“Who were you there with?” Cate asked in the same voice.

“Why, your brother, Dennis.” Scott paused, unsure of what else to say. “Why?”

Cate’s gaze hardened and she took two steps closer.

_“What did you two do while you were there?”_ she said quietly, a dark menace underlying her tone.

Scott’s heart skipped a beat.  _Oh no…_

“Cate, please, I can explain—”

“No, you can’t. There’s nothing to explain, Scotsman. You liar.”

Scott felt stung by Cate’s words. True, he had messed around with Dennis and the two carried on for several months, but it didn’t last longer than that. How did she find out?

Scott let out a breath. “Cate, your brother and I…it was nothing serious. We just—”

“‘We just’ what? You two were ‘lonely’? You two were ‘bored’? What the hell were you thinking? You said that we were going to raise our family together and while you’re off being a poster boy, you decide to carry on with my  _brother?!_ ” Cate’s face was flushed with anger and Scott could see her hands clenched into fists and shaking.

“I—”

“How COULD you?! How could you just…just…throw away what we had?!”

Scott did his best to cut in, taking a step forward. “No, Cate, I didn’t—”

“YES, YOU DID! And don’t call me ‘Cate’!” She yelled, turning away from him.

Scott stood in shock, unsure of what to say. He took a step back and felt the ring box in his pocket again. His heart was beating wildly in his chest as he saw his plan crumbling.

“I loved you,” Cate said, suddenly quiet again. Scott looked up to see tears running down her cheeks. “I loved you so much.”

“I love you, too, Caerphilly!” Scott said quickly, taking a step forward again. “Please, we can work this out—”

“No.”

Scott stopped cold.

“How many others have you carried on with? Surely there’s more.”

Scott shook his head slowly. “No one, love. There was no one else.”

Cate sniffed and looked away for a moment. “I loved you, Scotsman. But if this is going to be how you repay my love…then you don’t deserve it.”

Scott felt like a block of ice had been dropped in his chest. “Caerphilly…please. I’m…I’m so sorry…for what I did. It won’t—”

“It won’t matter if it happens again,” Cate said, cutting him off. “You won’t be hurting me anymore.”

Scott felt himself grow desperate. “Caerphilly, no, what are you saying?” He stepped close to her again and reached for her hand.

Cate drew back from him, holding her shaking hands close to her chest. “Get out.”

Now Scott felt tears brimming in his eyes. “But—”

“Get. Out. I said.”

“What about the children—”

“Take. Typhoon,” Cate said, raising her voice. She turned back to look at him, her eyes still full of tears and a deep anger.

“Typhoon?” Scott choked out.

“She looks like you. I don’t want to see her face and be reminded of you. You damn bastard.”

Scott could feel a lump in his throat. Breathing fast he slowly backed away, towards the nursery, knowing there was nothing he could do.

“Hurry up and get out before I call Dennis in here!” Cate yelled, making Scott jump.

He threw himself inside the nursery and found the two children asleep in their crib. He stopped for a moment and looked at them, so peaceful, so beautiful.

“Scotsman, I will  _kill you_ if you don’t fucking leave in the next 30 seconds!!”

“Goodbye, Hurricane,” Scott whispered, tears beginning to fall. He bent down and pressed a kiss to his son’s forehead before gently lifting Typhoon from the crib.

Cradling his daughter in his arms, Scott walked out of the nursery and found Cate in the hallway near the door.

“Caerphilly…please reconsider. I love you. And I love the children. Don’t you…want them to have a complete family?”

“Don’t you dare try to guilt trip me after the stunt you pulled!!” Cate screamed, whipping around. Scott cowered, holding Typhoon close and hoping she wouldn’t cry.

“I should NEVER have talked to you at the Exhibition in ’24. I knew you were just going to be a trouble-maker like all of those other LNER clowns you associate with. I have wasted so much time with you only to have you disregard all of what I gave you,” Cate yelled, growing more and more hysterical. Scott felt a sob rise in his throat as he cupped his hand around Typhoon’s ear to keep out her mother’s screams.

“Just get out and leave me alone!! There’s nothing you can do to fix this now! You broke my trust, dammit!” Scott could see Cate was beginning to lose steam as she wept harder.

“I HATE YOU!! JUST GO!”

Scott almost didn’t see the plate go flying towards his head. He ducked, holding Typhoon to his chest and scrambled for the door. A glass went flying and smashed against the doorframe, shards flying towards him. He ran out, hearing Cate’s cry of frustration. Typhoon was awake but, amazingly enough, had not cried despite the screams and smashed dinnerware.

Scott ran and ran, far away from Cate. He stopped briefly at a park bench to catch his breath and check on his daughter. She watched him with her big green eyes, the same green eyes that he had.

Scott shook his head sadly at her and walked on, towards home, unsure of what to do. As he crossed a bridge over a small river, he stopped again and took the ring box from his pocket.

“I’m sorry, Cate. I truly am.” And with that, he tossed the ring into the river and walked on, not looking back.

<>

Cate had collapsed in the doorway, sobbing, shards of glass digging into her hands as she sat trying to hold herself up.

“Caerphilly? Oh goodness, what happened?”

Cate looked up to see Pendennis looking at her in horror.

“Just leave,” she choked out. “Leave me alone.”

Dennis squatted down and put his hands on her shoulders. “Caerphilly, come now. Get up and let’s get the glass out—”

“Don’t touch me!” she cried, jerking away from Dennis’s hands. Dennis jerked back, unsure of what was going on.

“I don’t want to talk to you…or see you…right now,” Cate said quietly, feeling drained. She sniffed miserably as she looked at the glass around her and the cuts in her hands.

“…It was Scott, wasn’t it?”

At the mention of Scott’s name, Cate felt herself begin to crumble again. How could he have done that to her? She could hardly believe what Dennis had told her but after he’d found out that Scott was the father of her children…

“Leave,” Cate said to her brother. “Just leave, Pendennis.”

Dennis got up and sighed. “I’m sorry, Cate.”

“Don’t give me that ‘I’m sorry’ bullshit. I’m sick of hearing that.” Dennis flinched at her words but, deciding to respect his sister’s wishes, turned and left.

Cate wasn’t sure how long she’d sat in the hallway, picking the glass out of her hands when she heard a cry.

_Oh, goodness, Hurricane!_

She scrambled up and dashed off to the nursery to find Hurricane crying in his crib. It was strange only seeing him there and not Typhoon.

With the cuts beginning to sting, Cate reached into the crib and picked up her son before sinking into the rocking chair with him. She held him close and began to rock, utterly drained of tears at this point. Soon, Hurricane had calmed down.

“Mama,” he said, his tiny hands grasping at a lock of her hair.

“Yes, mama’s here, sweet heart,” she whispered hoarsely.  _Mama’s here and papa…isn’t._

It hurt so badly, but it had to be done. As Cate continued to sit in the chair with Hurricane, she could only imagine what would happen to them in the future.


End file.
